Brassieres



y 1958 v. I. BECKER 2,835,255

BRASSIERES Filed March 6, 1956 Z INVENTOR Victor LBecker United States Patent BRASSIERES Victor I. Becker, Los Angeles, Calif. Application March 6, 1956, Serial No. 569,822

2 Claims. (Cl. 128-484) This invention relates to brassieres, and more particularly to a brassiere adapted to support the breasts as well as aid in shaping the same to desired contours.

In Patent No. 2,346,411, issued to A. S. & V. I. Becker, is shown a brassiere in which an effort is made to aid in the support and conformation of the breasts by the employment of an apertured inner member in each cup, the aperture thereof being substantially circular and being also expansible due to an overlap of the ends of the inner cup member. The present invention constitutes an improvement over the type of brassiere shown in said patent, in that while it provides support for the breasts at the sides thereof, it does not result in a constricting effect sometimes likely to be obtained by a brassiere of the type shown in the above patent or in other cases wherein the breast is encompassed or completely surrounded by the edge of a circular confining element such as by parts of an inner cup member while projectingWhrough an aperture therein.

In the present construction, there is provided a permanently-shaped outer cup, within which is arranged an inner liner member of forked or inverted U-shape, thus defining an open-ended aperture having its upper end located above the center point ofv the cup and having two leg extensions spaced somewhat widely apart and terminating at the lower edge of the cup. Through this arrangement, I have found that the aperture defined by the inner cup member can spread sufiiciently in the lower portion of the cup to enable the cup to accommodate varying sizes of busts, yet it will provide sufficient support along the inner and outer areas of the breast. In

' other words, while a more balanced distribution of bust uplift is secured, a constriction around the bust likely to occur when the edge of a circular opening encompasses the breast, is avoided.

In a brassiere of this character is therefore provided the combination of an innercup member of substantially U-shape which surrounds the bust within the outer cup sufficiently to shape the bust to desirable conformation without constriction and which distributes the support for the bust and restrains the same from undesirable lateral spread.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

Fig. l is a perspective View of the major portion of a brassiere constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view of a portion of the brassiere, looking at the inside of the same;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a view of one of the inner members of the kind that is arranged within each of the breast cups, and

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the suspension straps and fastener therefor.

Referring to the drawing, the body of the brassiere includes the two sides or flap sections 1 of known construction, adapted to be detachably united at the rear when the garment is in position of wear, by a conventional hook-and-eye connection. One of the connection tabs, or that hearing theeyelets, is shown at 3. These connection elements are of known construction and form no part of the present invention.

The breast cups are indicated respectively at 4 and 5, and each of the same is primarily composed of the outer fabric shown at 6, formed with the cross-seam shown at 7. At its upper end, each of the outer cup sections 6' is provided with a loop member 8 which slidably extends through a fastener 22, and attaches as shown at '13 to the upper end of the inner cup member 9.

The loop member 8 is composed of a pair of straps 26 and 27 in overlying relation so that the loop'member is in fact, a double loop. At the top of each cup the ends of the two straps 26 and 27 are spaced apart and in such spaced relation are secured to the outer fabric 6 of the cup as indicated at 28 and 29. The opposite ends of the two straps are secured at one point to the upper end of the inner member 9 at the location designated at 13. The loop member 8, composed of the two straps 26 and 27 as above described, is slidably adjustable through a lower loop 30 in the fastener 22.

This arrangement is such that a three-point suspension of the inner and outer cup members is secured, the loop members 26 and 27 being secured at the single point 13 to the inner member 9 while spreading apart at their forward ends and having such ends secured in spaced apart relation at the top of the outer cup member. The uplift that is accordingly applied to the outer member is thus distributed over the outer member in a manner to secure uniformity. Fastener 22 is adjustably secured to the shoulder strap 12. There is one of the inner cup members 9 located within each of the breast cups 4 and 5. One of the cup members 9 as separated or detached from the inside of thecup, is shown in Fig. 4. It will be therein noted that each of these inner cup members 9 is substantially U-shaped, thus having the two leg extensions 10 and 11, which have their lower edges 14 engaged by the arcuate seaming 15 that defines the marginal edge of each of the breast cups 4 and 5. This arrangement is such that there is defined by the inner edge 25 of the inner cup member 9, a tapered opening 20 slightly widening from its upper curved edge 16 to the point of joinder with the seam 15. The upper edge 17 of the inner cup member 9 extends substantially coextensively with and spaced slightly downwardly from the upper edge 18 of each of the outer cup members 6, so that when viewed from the front of the garment, only a small upper edge portion of each of the inner cup members 9 is visible. The tapered opening 20 is, of course, completely covered and concealed from the front of the garment by the overlying outer cup member 6.

Between the breast cups 4 and 5 is provided the reinforcement shown at 21, and the elastic inserts shown at 25.

The result of the described construction enables the substantially U-shaped insert or inner cup member 9 to engage about those portions of the bust which require support to prevent lateral spread, and apply the required restraint on the same to gently,'but firmly, prevent breastflattening and resultant lateral spread. There is thus a tendency to shape the breasts, without completely encircling them with a complete circular aperture likely to constrict and cause discomfort to the wearer, particularly when a brassiere of too small size is worn. At the same time, the leg portions 10 and 11 defining: the tapered open-bottom aperture 20 between them, may spread under excess pressure, thus permitting the brassiere to fit variations in bust size.

Through the arrangement disclosed, co-operative action between. the outer bust cups and the inner liner members 9 is attained in a manner to afford a maximum of comfort to the wearer, while at the same time restraining, supporting and shaping the breasts to materially enhance the appearance of the wearer of the garment.

Having described an embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a brassiere, a breast cup composed of inner and outer fabric sections, the outer section being of cupped shape, the inner section being of substantially inverted U-shape having a central gradually-widening opening extending: downwardlyrfrom a point above the center of the cup to the lower end of the same, said opening being bordered by spaced parts at its lower end, which parts at the lower end define the widest part of the opening, a double loop connecting the top of the inner section to the top of the outer section, said double loop consisting of separate straps having their ends secured in overlying relation and at one point to thetop of the inner section and having their opposite ends spread apart and secured in spaced relation to the top of the outer cupped section, a fastening element through which said double loop is slidable, and a shoulder strap adjustably secured to the fastening element.

2. In a brassiere, a breast cup composed of inner and outer fabric sections, the outer section being of cupped shape, the inner section being of substantially inverted U-shape and having a central opening gradually widening on diverging lines from its upper end to the lower end of' the cup, the widest part of said opening being located at the lower end of the cup, a pair of loops extending between the top edge of the outer fabric section and the top edge of the inner fabric section, both loops being attached at one end to the top of the outer fabric section and at the other end to the top of the inner fabric section, a shoulder strap having a fastener through which-both of the loops are slidable for self-adjustment of the inner and outer fabric sections, the ends of the loops secured to the top of the outer fabric section being attached thereto in spaced relation and the ends of the loops secured to the top of the inner fabric section being attached thereto in overlying relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,501,860 Becker Mar. 28, 1950 2,592,792 Cohen Apr. 15, 1952 2,679,048 Alberts May 25, 1954 2,725,563 Rich Dec. 6, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 673,095 Great Britain June 4, 1952 

